Army Begins to Move Nerve Gas
By John Norton, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Apr. 20–The Army early Monday morning began shipping VX nerve agent hydrolysate out of its Newport, Ind., Chemical Agent Disposal Facility, according to a spokesman for the Chemical Materials Agency. The liquid waste will be incinerated at the Veolia Environmental Services plant in Port Arthur, Texas.
Craig Williams, director of the Chemical Weapons Working Group, said his organization and other community and environmental groups in Indiana and Texas were still working to halt the program.
On Wednesday, attorney Mick Harrison of Citizens Against Incineration at Newport, sent a letter to the Army and the State of Indiana asking for the shipments to be stopped. He charged that sources in the program have said that the waste contains more residual nerve agent than the Army claims — 48 parts per billion of agent VX and 500 parts per billion of EA2192, a toxic byproduct. He said that the sources also claimed that the waste containers have a history of leaking.
Williams has called the Port Arthur plan a violation of congressional guidance to the military, which called for consultations with affected communities when shipping hydrolysate for off-site treatment. The Army had tried to dispose of the hydrolysate twice before, in Ohio and in New Jersey, but had to call off those plans after public opposition.
This time, Williams’ group and others had no advance warning until the contract with Veolia was signed April 9.
According to a story in the Port Arthur News, however, Daniel Duncan, environmental, health and safety manager for Veolia, said his company did inform community groups over the last few weeks and local government officials were aware of the impending contract.
“When one of our colleagues was sitting on the side of the road at 4 o’clock this morning, what she saw was more than four tanker trucks disappearing into the night,” Williams said. “What she saw was our faith in democracy disappearing. It’s reminiscent of the old Soviet era.”
Army officials say it’s cheaper to destroy the hydrolysate off-site than to go ahead with its original plan for a treatment program at Newport.
The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program, which is in charge of the weapons destruction at the Pueblo Chemical Depot and the Blue Grass, Ky., Army Depot, also has argued that off-site treatment is cheaper and could consider incineration, too.
Kathy DeWeese, spokeswoman for ACWA, said Monday morning, “The ACWA program is continuing to design destruction facilities for Colorado and Kentucky that reflect on-site treatment of hydrolysate.
“However, the program manager has been charged to pursue all cost reduction opportunities, to include the option of off-site treatment and disposal of hydrolysate. As we continue to examine these potential cost-saving options, any new information that becomes available, such as the Newport solution for hydrolysate treatment and disposal, will be taken into consideration.”
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., sent a letter to Claude Bolton, an assistant secretary of the Army, asking for a description of how public comment was gathered on the Port Arthur option, a summary of public comments and cost analyses of both the work and possible delays from litigation by opposition groups.
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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